More than anything, Tiffany Potter's mother wishes she had been by her daughter's side as she lay dying in the hospital.

It would have been hard. Her stomach would have been twisting and turning. But her 29-year-old daughter wouldn't have been alone.

Gena Behle of Des Moines has been overflowing with questions since Potter's death Wednesday. Why did Des Moines police shoot her? Why didn't her daughter ask for help? Why did she have to die?

"She was so good," Behle said. "She wasn't happy unless she was doing something for somebody."

According to Des Moines police, Potter tried to drive away from officers, then stopped and tried to run away, and finally fired a handgun. Police shot her to death at about 2 a.m., officials said.

Police have declined to say why or where they had initially wanted to stop her. Potter was shot outside a home in the 1600 block of East 14th Street — a place she apparently had no connection to before she stopped her car.

Police clarified on Friday that there was not a high-speed pursuit before the shooting, but officials have repeatedly declined to offer further details about what happened before Potter stopped her car.

Posted!

A link has been posted to your Facebook feed.

Buy Photo

Friends and family release balloons on East 14th Street during a vigil for Tiffany Potter Thursday, July 6, 2017. Potter was shot by police outside a nearby home earlier this week.
Zach Boyden-Holmes/The Register

A man does a burnout on East 14th Street as friends and family hold a vigil for Tiffany Potter Thursday, July 6, 2017. Potter was shot by police outside the home earlier this week. Zach Boyden-Holmes/The Register

A man does a burnout on East 14th Street as friends and family hold a vigil for Tiffany Potter Thursday, July 6, 2017. Potter was shot by police outside the home earlier this week.
Zach Boyden-Holmes/The Register

A man does a burnout on East 14th Street as friends and family hold a vigil for Tiffany Potter Thursday, July 6, 2017. Potter was shot by police outside the home earlier this week. Zach Boyden-Holmes/The Register

Interested in this topic? You may also want to view these photo galleries:

Police have also not said whether they believe Potter opened fire on police or shot in another direction. The three officers present for the fatal shooting were from the police department's specialized Summer Enforcement Team, police confirmed on Friday. Though just one of them fired his gun, all three are on leave, pending investigation of the shooting.

For Behle, the evening of July 4 started with enjoying the holiday with Potter and setting off fireworks. Around 11:30 p.m., Potter told her mom she was heading out and said her goodbyes.

"'Mom, I love you,'" Behle said. "She always said that no matter what was going on."

Buy Photo

A man does a burnout on East 14th Street as friends and family hold a vigil for Tiffany Potter Thursday, July 6, 2017. Potter was shot by police outside the home earlier this week.
(Photo: Zach Boyden-Holmes/The Register)

The next thing she remembers is a Des Moines detective knocking on her door after 4 a.m. He told Behle that Potter had been in a shootout and died on the operating table in the hospital at about 3:45 a.m.

Des Moines police have said that they have video recordings and witness accounts that corroborate their narrative of Potter's killing, but authorities have not made any of that evidence public, citing an ongoing investigation that involves the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.

Another person was in the car with Potter, police said Friday. Behle said Potter was with a friend.

Behle said she hasn't seen her daughter's body yet, pending an autopsy. She said her family requested to view body camera and dashboard camera footage of the confrontation, but they were told it could take four to six weeks.

Tiffany Potter(Photo: Special to the Register)

Potter had run from police and been involved in chases before, her mother said. Her criminal record includes convictions for drug offenses and assault. But Behle said she was shocked when police told her she fired a shot.

Potter's older brother, Brandon Behle, 32, spoke with his sister just 30 minutes before the shooting.

He called her while she was at the nearby QuikTrip at Watrous Avenue. She was distressed, but she wouldn't talk to him about it. He doesn't know why she didn't ask for help, like she had in the past.

But she told him that it was good to hear his voice and that she loved him.

"Promise you'll call me," he said to her.

Behle and his sister had an absent father growing up, and their mother was often working. They fought sometimes, but they loved and cared for one another. He didn't like that she had begun using drugs as she got older, but over the last two years, they spent a lot of time together.

Most of all, he said, she was great with his sons.

"They were her life," he said.

It's been difficult for the family to try to plan a funeral. Because Potter was involved in a crime, the family is having trouble finding financial help from nonprofit organizations and victim services agencies, he said.

On Thursday night, dozens of Potter's friends and family gathered at the place where she was shot.

It was an evening Potter would have loved, her family said.

A car parked on the front lawn blasted hip-hop and rap music. On the street, motorcyclists did burnouts, flooding the area with smoke. Someone murmured that every time a car with subwoofers came near, it seemed as though Potter was there. She loved all things about music.

A block away, police officers stood outside their parked cars as the vigil crowd gathered in a lane. Later, the officers came over and asked them to get off the street.

The mourners remembered Potter for her giving spirit. She was a tomboy and identified as a lesbian. She attended East High School and had many friends in Des Moines. Growing up she liked basketball and was a rebellious child. She first got in trouble with the law at age 12, and struggled with drug addiction her whole life.

Still, everyone agreed that even though she was homeless, she would give the shirt off her back to anyone.

"She liked to help anybody," Brandon Behle said. "She would go to bums and give them money. She didn't care who you were."